Is Serum Tryptase a Valuable Marker for Obesity-Bronchial Asthma Interrelationship in Children?

Abdel Gawad TA, Terez B Kamel*, Manal M Abd Al-Aziz, Abou-Sekin TA and Mourad Alfy Ramzy

Background: Asthma among obese represents a unique phenotype. Mast cells are more abundant inobese. Serum tryptase (ST) is a marker of mast cell numbers or activity. Since obesity and asthma have been linked in epidemiological studies, a possible higher mast cell activity in obesity could be a factor between the two conditions. This study was to investigate ST and its potential association between obesity and childhood asthma.

Methods: Study recruited 60 asthmatic children, their age ranged from 5-16 years. They were divided according to BMI centile to 30 obese and 30 non-obese asthmatics. Thirty healthy non-asthmatic,  nonatopic and non-obese children; were included as a healthy control. Serum tryptase, atopy (skin prick test reactivity) and spirometry were assessed.

Results: Frequency of atopy and positive skin prick test significantly increased among obese more than non-obese asthmatics (P<0.05, OR = 1.96, 95% CI = 1.27-3.24). FEV1% of predicted mean levels were lower among obese than non-obese asthmatics (p<0.05). ST was significantly higher in asthmatics than in controls with a mean ±SD of 53.3±13.78 ng/ml and 10.06±4.39 ng/ml respectively. ST was higher in obese than non-obese asthmatics with a mean ±SD of 71.73±19.17 ng/ml and 34.5±8.68 ng/ml  respectively (P<0.05). There was a negative correlation between ST and FEV1 % of predicted and  positive correlations between ST and age, BMI, and waist circumference among asthmatics.

Conclusion: Mast cells play a role in both obesity and asthma, serum tryptase, being a marker of mast cell activation, could represent a link between them.

Keywords: Bronchial asthma; Obesity; Serum tryptase (ST); Waist circumference; Body mass index (BMI)

Published on: Apr 12, 2017 Pages: 17-20

Full Text PDF Full Text HTML DOI: 10.17352/oja.000004
CrossMark Publons Harvard Library HOLLIS Search IT Semantic Scholar Get Citation Base Search Scilit OAI-PMH ResearchGate Academic Microsoft GrowKudos Universite de Paris UW Libraries SJSU King Library SJSU King Library NUS Library McGill DET KGL BIBLiOTEK JCU Discovery Universidad De Lima WorldCat VU on WorldCat